In wrestling, sometimes there are things that end up being pointless in the long run. With John Cena approaching a possible 16th, and record tying, World Title Run, I’ve noticed that a few of those reigns were more or less pointless. Allow me to go back and discuss said reigns and eliminate them without altering WWE history much, or even at all.
His first few reigns had a point, so I won’t alter those, or his two World Title reigns in late 2008 and early 2009, I’ll start after he regained the WWE Championship in September 2009. That win over Randy Orton in an “I Quit” match started Cena’s sixth World Title reign. This reign lasted three weeks until he lost the title back to Orton at the next Pay-Per-View, Hell in a Cell. Cena would then go on to win the title back three weeks later at Bragging Rights. Looking back, these two reigns could be combined into one. All the would have to happen would be for their Hell in a Cell match to end in a no contest, and the Iron Man Match at Bragging Rights being the final match where a true winner is declared. Now, I understand that a no contest in a Hell in a Cell match would leave a sour taste in the mouths of the majority of fans, but it could work, here’s how. Cena and Orton beat enough other in the Cell so bad that both are knocked out, thus creating the non-finish. Both rivals agree that the rivalry needs a definitive end. The Iron Match match is made and Cena retains, where he goes on the eventually lose to Sheamus, only he is a six time champion instead of seven time champion at that point.
Cena’s eighth title reign, where he won the Elimination Chamber WWE Championship Match in 2010, only to lose the title minutes later to Batista was pretty pointless. A few weeks before that Pay-Per-View, Batista gave Cena a serious beating. What I would have done would have been, use that beating to write Cena off for a few weeks, leaving his spot in the Chamber open to be filled by Batista. Batista wins the match, Cena challenges him the next night for WrestleMania XXVI, the match goes down as is happens, Cena defeated Batista for his seventh, not ninth, World Title, eliminating a pointless run in the process.
Another reign I would eliminate would be Cena’s two week WWE Championship reign in 2011. After CM Punk defeated Cena at Money in the Bank at 2011 and left, he’s what I would do. Have the tournament on Raw, just like they did, Rey Mysterio still win and becomes WWE Champion in the process. Instead of having the John Cena vs. Rey Mysterio match that same night, have that match as the SummerSlam main event. Cena wins that match and Punk makes his return afterwards ending the Pay-Per-View. At Night of Champions 2011, do exactly what happened at Summerslam 2011. Punk wins to unify the title, then Del Rio cashes in. Hell in a Cell 2011 is still the Triple Threat with Cena, Punk, and Del Rio, with Del Rio winning. At Vengeance, Del Rio still defeats Cena in a Last Man Standing Match, and Survivor Series 2011 goes down like it did with Punk starting his record setting title reign, and eliminating a pointless Cena reign in the process.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MprGvAWLLG8[/youtube]
That’s three of Cena’s 15 total reigns that ended up being useless in the process. I wouldn’t say his last one was useless, they needed a big match for SummerSlam and with Bryan being injured, Cena was the best choice. You couldn’t really transition the title with anybody else. The scenarios I created would today have Cena as a 12 time World Champion instead of a 15 time World Champion. Old school fans would be more comfortable because he’d be farther away from the record, and the title could even have a little bit more credibility without the useless reigns in it’s history. The WWE World Heavyweight Championship is the richest prize in the WWE, and it should be credible. Only have meaningful championship reigns with it, don’t toss it around.
Until next time, eliminate the pointless and gain some credibility,
-Nick
